Method of treating wool and the wool thus treated



Patented Mar. 4, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CHARLES BROWN, OF- SALEM, AND GUSTAVUS J. ESSELEN, JR, SWAMPSCOTT,

MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOBS TO MANUFACTURING IMPROVEMENT CORPORATION,

OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS METHOD OF TIBJlilATINt-E WOOL AND THE WOOL THUS TREATED No Drawing.

'6 fibre for the purpose of improving the combing, spinning and weaving qualities.

It has long been the practice in the woolen and worsted industry to introduce a quantity of oil into the washed and scoured wool in order to lubricate the fibres and facilitate the subsequent operations, such as combing and spinning. This lubricant is generally introduced into the washed and scoured mass by sprinkling themass with oil in its natural state or at times diluted in part with water through the employment of an emulsifying agent, such as an alkali. Subsequent to the sprinkling of the oil lubricant on the mass of wool, it is essential that the thus treated mass be permitted to stand for a suflicient period to permit a more intimate dispersion of the lubricant throughout the mass than can possibly be accomplished in the initial sprinkling. This requires a considerable inventoryj of wool to be constantly maintained, and requires a careful handling under proper conditions of temperature and humidity in order to avoid losing the advantage of the lubricating treating. This method, although employed universally in the treatment of woolen stock, has severaldistinct disadvan-- tages. Not only does the effective lubrication of the stock require the employment of large quantities of oil, but at best the method is ineffective in that the dispersion of the lubricant throughout the mass is non-uniform even after permitting the treated mass to stand for considerable periods of time. Furthermore, unless the after treatment is carefully performed under proper atmospheric conditions of humidity, the advantages resulting from the lubricant may be minimized greatly. The employment of a chemical and relatively unstable emulsion through the use of some form of emulsifying agent, although it dilutes the oil initially, does not result in any improvement or substantial advantage in so far as improving the lubrication of the stock is concerned. This is probably due, in part at least, to the fact that the relatively Application filed July 23, 1927. Serial No. 208,050.

unstable emulsion permits almost immediate separation of water therefrom, with the result that the lubricant remains on the ortion of the stock on which it was initia 1y deposited and fails to be dispersed uniformly throughout the entire mass of stock in a man-. ner to most effectually accomplish its lubrieating function.

We have discovered that the lubrication of the wool can be very greatly improved and the uantity of lubricant substantially re duce by the employment of a mechanically and chemically stabilized emulsion of an oil lubricant in a dispersion medium, such as water. The employment of such an emulsion in connection with the lubrication of the washed and scoured wool fibre producesresults which are entirely unexpected and vastly improves the condition of the fibre from the standpoint of subsequent operations. By virtue of the mechanical stabilizing of the emulsion, not only are the individual globules of oil greatly multiplied in number and decreased in size, but the resulting dispersion of the oil throughout the water medium is vastly improved, with the result that an emulsion is secured consisting of minute globules of oil surrounded by a film of water. This type of emulsion produces a liquid having certain of the vehicle characteristics of water, in that it flows readily, may be easily sprayed upon the wool, and thereafter disperses uniformly throughout the entire body of stock through capillary attraction. Due to the very intimate mixture of oil and water promoted by the mechanical stabilization, however,'evaporation of water therefrom is inhibited after deposit on-the stock and'the emulsion is caused to retain its desirable characteristics throughout the subsequent processing of the stock. Aside from the more or less permanent retention of its characteristics,

this type of emulsion, due to the greater rapidity of distribution after application to the stock, permits the improved processing of the stock after treatment without the time interval previously considered necessary for a complete penetration of the stock by the lubricant. The result is to greatly facilitate the subsequent treatment, first, 'in the initial combing to efi'ecta separation of the long and short fibres, and second, in the treatment of the long fibres bothpreparatory and during their incorporation in the fabric.

We have found in the actual practice of our invention that very satisfactory results may be obtained by the employment of a vegetable oil, such as olive oil, in .the proportion of sixty per cent of oil, approximately, with forty per cent water, by volume. To this may be added an emulsifying agent in the form of a small quantity of neutral soap, approximating four per cent by weight. Although eminently satisfactory results are obtained through the use of olive oil, it has been found that equal improvement is manifested by producing similar emulsions of other oils, such as 0118 derived from hydrocarbons and animal fats. This mixture of oil in the water medium, together with an emulsifying agent, is then subjected to an homogenizing action. The result of this mechanical treatment is to break up the'oil globules into minute particles and intimately disperse these globules throughout the Water so that the resulting product represents a large number of minute oil globules surrounded by a thin water film. This emulsion is then diluted and thereafter'sprayed, or otherwise brought into intimate contact with the Washed and scoured wool stock in order to cause an initial impregnation of the stock therewith. Thereafter, the character of the emulsion causes a rapid and effectual penetration of the entire body of the stock, with a resulting distribution of the emulsion throughout the entire mass of fibres. The advantage of this complete and uniform coverage of all of the fibres as distinguished from the imperfect and non-uniform distribution previously obtained even under ideal conditions cannotbe overestimated. Not only does it ermit the immediate processing of the stoc but during this processingavoids wastage of stock, due to imperfect lubrication, and greatly facilitates the operations of combing, spinning and Weaving. As stated heretofore, we believe that the material improvement in the wool stock resulting from the treatment with this form of lubricant,

is due primarily to two characteristics; first,

the fact that by virtue of our process the lubricating medium has the flow characteristics and the capacity for dispersion of a relatively non-viscous liquid without sacri-' ficing the lubricating properties present in the oil lubricant; and second, the intimate dispersion of the minute globules of oil throughout the body of the dispersion medium, such as water, materially aids in retarding the evaporation of the water from the wool stock after treatment, and results in a permanent conditioning of the stock which can not otherwise be accomplished.

What is claimed is:

1. The method of treating fibre for the production of woolen or worsted fabrics and the like, which consists in treating the scoured and washed fibre with a mechanically stabilized emulsion of an oil lubricant and water, in which the oil is dispersed throu hout the water in relatively minute globules to produce an emulsion which has the flow characteristics of water and is capable of accomplishing a thorough and effectual penetration of the mass of the fibres, and which inhibits evaporation of water therefrom for a suflicient period of time to permit a complete processing of the fibre into the finished fabric without substantial alteration of the lubricating properties and there after processing the fibres while so lubricated.

2. The method of treating fibre for the production of Woolen and worsted fabrics and the like, which consists in spraying scoured and washed fibre .with a relatively stable emulsion of an oil lubricant dispersed in a sufficient volume of water to act as a dispersion medium and produce a resulting emulsion with characteristics of the dispersion medium to cause a thorough and complete penetration of the mass of fibres by the resulting emulsion with a retention of the lubricant throughout the mass for a suflicient period of time to permit completion of the processing of the fibres into the finished fabric without substantial alteration of the lubricating effect, and thereafter processing the fibres while so lubricated. v

3. A mass of woolen fibre prepared for subsequent incor oration intocloth in which the individual bres are uniformly treated with a stabilized emulsion of oil lubricant and water for permanently and uniformly effecting lubrication of all of the fibre structure.

4. 'A mass of woolen fibrepreparedfor subsequent incorporation into cloth in which the individual fibres are uniformly treated with a stabilized emulsion of sixty per cent of oil lubricant and forty per cent of water by volume approximately for permanently and uniformly effecting lubrication of all of the fibre structure.

CHARLES A. BROWN. GUSTAVUS J. ESSELEN, JR. 

